#paleognath

[vintagewildlife]

Cassowary By: A. W. Ambler From: Wild, Wild World of Animals: Elephants and Other Land Giants 1976

[best-bird-tournament]

Paleognath infraclass

Which is the best bird?

Little spotted kiwi

Somali ostrich

Voting ended onMar 30

[saint-nevermore]

Lithornis vulturinus preening, using a partridge as pose reference

day 16 of drawdinosdaily

[herpsandbirds]

May I request some paleognaths?

DAWN OF THE PALEOGNATHS!!!

IT HAS BEGUN!!!

YOU'RE IN FOR IT NOW MOTHER FUCKERS!!!

So, let's explain to the kids in the peanut gallery, that aren't obsessed with bird taxonomy and evolution, what a Paleognath is...

This is an infraclass of birds that are considered to be "primitive" in their anatomy. They have primitive more reptilian palates, and they have penises (which is something most other birds have lost through evolution), as well as some other anatomical traits. Primitive, meaning they have some traits of earlier birds.

We don't use the term living fossil here at the blog, as every living thing today is the result of 4 billion years of evolution, and has changed and adapted and continues to do so.

Paleognaths probably diverged from other groups of birds in the Early Cretaceous.

Some people confuse this grouping with the ratites (ostriches, rheas, cassowaries, emus), but the ratites are a group of paleognaths. (What I'm trying to get across here is that the other paleognath birds I'm going to name are not ratites, they're just closely related).

There has been some dispute over the years as to whether the Paleognathae are polyphyletic (not actually evolutionary closely related but different groups that we have grouped for the sake of ease and similar traits). Recent anatomical and genetic analysis strongly favors them being monophyletic (an actual single closely related evolutionary lineage).

Most members of this group are flightless.

Here are the groups of Paleognaths:

Ostriches

Rheas

Cassowaries and Emus

Kiwis

Tinamous

Elephant Birds (extinct)

Moas (extinct)

Lithornids (extinct, may be polyphyletic)

Masai or East African Ostrich (Struthio camelus massaicus), male, family Struthionidae, order Struthioniformes, Masai Mara, Kenya

A subspecies of the Common Ostrich.

The largest species of bird in the world, standing up to 8.86 ft (2.7 m) tall.

Flightless.

photograph byKmb Prasad

Greater Rhea (Rhea americana), family Rheidae, order Rheiformes, found in central and eastern South America

Flightless

Standing up to 5 ft 7 in tall

photograph by Rufus46

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), family Casuariidae, order Casuariiformes, Flinders Ranges, SA, Australia

Flightless

Standing up to 6.25 ft (1.91 m) tall.

photograph by Greg Wisnia

Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius), father with eggs, family Casuariidae, northern Australia

Flightless

Standing up to 1.9 m (6 ft 3 in) tall.

Photograph by VestorStudio

Puna Tinamou (Tinamotis pentlandii), family Tinamidae, order Tinamiformes, found in Puna (high altitude grassland) in the Southern Andes Mountains of South America.

The tinamous are an ancient group of birds, related to ratites (ostriches, rheas, emus, and cassowaries).

Though they are not strong flyers, they are capable of flight.

photograph by Luke Seitz

North Island Brown Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli), Apterygidae, order Apterygiformes, widespread in the northern 2/3 of the North Island of New Zealand

VULNERABLE.

photograph by Tui de Roi

Elephant Bird (Aepyornis maximus), family Aepyornis, order Aepyornithiformes, Found in Madagascar

EXTINCT (Sometime around 1000 AD)

These huge birds reached a height of up to 3 (9.8 ft), and a weight of up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb).

illustration by George de Lodge

South Island Giant Moa (Dinornis robustus), family Dinornithidae, order Dinornithiformes, was found on the South Island of New Zealand

EXTINCT.

Flightless

Possible the tallest bird species to have existed, standing up to 3.6 metres (11 ft 10 in) tall.

images: Joseph Smit & Paleoneolitic

Lithornis, family Lithornidae, order Lithorniformes, known from Upper Paleocene through the Middle Eocene

Capable of flight

6 species

illustration by Sheatherius

[buggbuzz]

my ornithology midterm's coming up, so you know what that means!!! lots of bird art is coming your way, starting with the paleognathans :) future studies of the orders will probably not be as detailed because i have like 15 or so more to go plus evolution and anatomy before tuesday, and these took me wayyyyy too long lol.

lowkey feel bad for the rhea and ostrich cause i did them first and they were very much rushed so now the emu and cassowaries are kinda mogging them 😭😭

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

Casuarius

Northern Cassowary by Viajar, CC BY 2.0 

Etymology: Cassowary

First Described By: Brisson, 1760

Classification: Dinosauromorpha, Dinosauriformes, Dracohors, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Eusaurischia, Theropoda, Neotheropoda, Averostra, Tetanurae, Orionides, Avetheropoda, Coelurosauria, Tyrannoraptora, Maniraptoromorpha, Maniraptoriformes, Maniraptora, Pennaraptora, Paraves, Eumaniraptora, Averaptora, Avialae, Euavialae, Avebrevicauda, Pygostaylia, Ornithothoraces, Euornithes, Ornithuromorpha, Ornithurae, Neornithes, Palaeognathae, Notopalaeognathae, Novaeratitae, Casuariiformes, Casuariidae

Referred Species: C. casuarius (Southern Cassowary), C. unappendiculatus (Northern Cassowary), C. bennetti (Dwarf Cassowary), C. lydekkeri (Pygmy Cassowary)

Status: Extinct - Extant, Least Concern

Time and Place: Since 5 million years ago, in the Zanclean of the Pliocene of the Neogene, through today 

Today, the Cassowary is primarily known from New Guinea, some isolated nearby islands, and northern Australia. Fossil evidence indicates that the Cassowary had a much greater range in the past, however, which has been indicated below by the overlapping striped lines in Eastern Australia. 

Physical Description: Cassowaries are a group of large, flightless birds, distinctive in appearance due to their long shaggy black feathers all over their bodies. They also have crests on their heads for display, called casques, and wattles hanging off of their necks - also for display. Today they range in size from 1 meter to 1.7 meters long; though the major extinct species, the Pygmy Cassowary, may have been as short as 75 centimeters in length, though not enough body fossils have been found of it to determine this exactly. They do have wings, but they are extremely small and essentially invisible among the body plumage. Their crests range from brown and beige to blue in color, and are crescent half-ovals on top of their heads. They have black beaks and tops of their heads, and blue lower heads and necks, with the wattles usually being red in color. Their legs are robust and beige in color, and end in large, sturdy feet with extremely sharp claws. Their bodies in general are very round in appearance. 

Pygmy Cassowary by Scott Reid 

The babies are distinctly different in color - they are brown and beige striped, to help them hide in the undergrowth from predators. They also do not have fully developed wattles or crests, since those are sexual display features. In fact, baby cassowary are almost indistinguishable from Emu chicks, which points to the close evolutionary relationship of these two birds. As for sexual differences, the species isn’t sexually dimorphic in terms of color appearance, but the females are significantly larger than the males in terms of size.

Diet: Cassowaries primarily feed upon fruit, especially fallen fruit, though they do also eat the occasional fungus, small animal, and egg, as well as leaves. 

Dwarf Cassowary by Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Behavior: Cassowaries are extremely shy birds, dwelling in deep forest habitats and disappearing the moment of human appearance. They primarily feed and live alone, except during the mating season, or when there is enough food in a location to attract a large number of them. They have territories, which do not overlap for males but females do overlap the territories of multiple males, which they move between throughout their life. The males can tolerate each other’s presence, but the females are fiercely territorial with respect to other females. Thus, though Cassowaries are not monogamous, they do mate with a limited number of partners throughout their life. These birds make grunts, hisses, and roaring sounds, as well as booming calls. Piping sounds are made by the smaller species. They do not migrate, but stay near their original range for most of their lives. 

Southern Cassowary by Michael Schmid, CC BY 2.0 

The Cassowary has a fairly elaborate mating ritual. The female will make loud vibrations, which will cause the male to approach. They’ll run their necks along the ground, showing off their neck wattles and moving their heads back and forth to show off the crest. The female will then make drumming sounds and approach the male slowly, while the male will crouch against the ground. The female then may step on the male’s back, before crouching next to him for mating - or she’ll attack. The latter happens more often than not, and the female will then chase the male around until they reach water. The male then dives into the water and submerges up to his neck, and the female will chase him in the water until they go back on land again, and then the female will crouch on the ground, allowing mating to occur. Males may compete over one female at this point. 

Southern Cassowary by Arjan Haverkamp, CC BY 2.0 

Breeding begins in May and extends until June. The females lay three to eight large green or teal eggs in a platform of twigs, sticks, leaves, grass, and debre concealed among vines and behind tree roots. The male then incubates the eggs exclusively, usually for a little less than two months. The male will then protect and guard the chicks, who stay associated with the nest for nine months. The fathers are extremely hyper-protective of the young and will defend them violently if necessary. Meanwhile, the female will go on to lay eggs for more males. After nine months, the young go off to form their own territories.

Cassowaries, thus, can be extremely aggressive towards people, especially during the breeding season where they can attack humans getting too close. Usually, though, cassowaries just attack people who offer them food. The bird will attack via kicking, and they are able to kick fairly high up. Still, cassowaries have been tamed in the past, and were partially domesticated by natives to New Guinea prior to the arrival of white people. 

Northern Cassowary by Nick Hobgood, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Ecosystem: Cassowaries primarily live in humid rainforests, though they do sometimes go out to palm scrub, grasslands, savanna, and swamps. They are important keystone species in the rainforest, distributing seeds across the jungle when they poop - and plants will also have higher germination rates if they have been pooped out by a cassowary. These birds are hunted by dogs, but they are not natural predators of the species. Most population limitation comes from animals feeding on their eggs and young - hence the extreme protectiveness of the fathers.

Other: Though all three species are considered to be of least concern in terms of environmental threats, they are affected by habitat loss, vehicle crashes, and introduced mammal predators. As such, many populations are on the decline. 

Cassowary Chick by Robert J. Tidey, CC BY-SA 3.0 

Species Differences: These species do have overlapping ranges, and thus mainly differ based on appearance. The Southern Cassowary has a huge crest, two wattles, and a more aqua-blue colored neck - and it is also the largest species, sometimes reaching as long as 2 meters in length in some females. The Northern Cassowary is only a little smaller, with one wattle, and it has a deeper blue head and a bright orange neck. Finally, the Dwarf Cassowary is significantly smaller than both of the other species, only reaching up to 1.5 meters long, and it has a deep blue head and no wattles on its neck.

~ By Meig Dickson

Sources under the cut

Bourke, R. M. 2009. History of agriculture in Papua New Guinea. Food and Agriculture in Papua New Guinea, ANU Press.

Davies, S. J. J. F. 2002. Ratites and Tinamous. Oxford University Press.

Davies, S. J. J. F. 2003. M. Hutchins, ed. Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. 8 Birds | Tinamous and Ratites to Hoatzins (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group: 75 - 77.

Folch, A., Christie, D.A., Jutglar, F., Garcia, E.F.J. & Sharpe, C.J. (2019). Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius bennetti). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Folch, A., Jutglar, F., Garcia, E.F.J. & Sharpe, C.J. (2019). Northern Cassowary (Casuarius unappendiculatus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Folch, A., Christie, D.A., Jutglar, F., Garcia, E.F.J. & Sharpe, C.J. (2019). Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Jobling, J. A. 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Christopher Helm Publishing, A&C Black Publishers Ltd, London.

JRank. Cassowaries: Casuaridae - Behavior and Reproduction.

Miller, A. H. 1962. The history and significance of the fossil Casuarius lydekkeri. Records of the Australian Museum 25 (1): 235 - 238.

Rich, P. V., M. Plane, N. Schroeder. 1988. A pygmy cassowary (Casuarius lydekkeri) from Late Pleistocene bog deposits at Pureni, Papua New Guinea. Journal of Australian Geology & Geophysics 10: 377 - 389.

Weber, B. L., I. E. Woodrow. 2004. Cassowary frugivory, seed defleshing and fruit fly infestation influence the transition from seed to seedling in the rare Australian rainforest tree, Ryparosa sp. Nov. 1 (Archariaceae). Functional Plant Biology 31 (5): 505 - 16.

[vintagewildlife]

Ostrich farm in winter By: Unknown photographer From: Zoological Society Bulletin, Vol XXII, No. 3 1919

[vintagewildlife]

Emu with chicks By: Elwin R. Sanborn From: Zoological Society Bulletin, Vol XXII, No. 4 1919